Chapter 82: Sakazuki: You Ask Me About the Future of the Marines?! It's Vice Admiral Erza, of Course!

"This kid."

Sengoku's face was incredibly grim, the veins on his clenched fists bulging.

He seemed to have forgotten how long it had been since someone had threatened him like this.

Especially when the person threatening him was on Enies Lobby, so close to the Marine Headquarters at Marineford.

Did the other party truly not fear that he, in a fit of rage, would dispatch an Admiral, along with dozens of headquarters Vice Admirals, to surround them for a fight to the death?!

"Damn it."

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, we absolutely cannot continue to agree to their demands."

"If we keep compromising, these pirates will only get more audacious, and it will never end!"

"As the righteous Marines, how can we let a pirate walk all over us?"

"Let me go personally! I will resolve everything on Enies Lobby properly."

The speaker was one of the three Marine Admirals, 'Akainu' Sakazuki, who had just returned to Marine Headquarters. Upon hearing the situation the Marines were facing, his brow furrowed, and he decided to take action himself to prove to the world that the justice of the Marines is absolute.

"Sakazuki, you stop right there! It's one thing for Erza to be young and reckless, but are you going to join in this foolishness?"

"If the enemy were just some unremarkable pirate, we could eliminate them directly. But the person currently in control of Enies Lobby is the newly crowned Emperor of the Sea who just defeated Kuzan..."

Seeing this, Sengoku didn't hesitate for a moment, directly stopping Sakazuki, who was about to rush to Enies Lobby to fight Eden to the death.

Sengoku's brow was tightly furrowed as he said angrily, "Not only that, but according to the intelligence sent back by Kuzan, when they were in Mock Town, they showed an unusually strong friendship with the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Portgas D. Ace."

"If this information is accurate, making an enemy of Eden now is the same as making an enemy of Whitebeard! If things go wrong, it could escalate into an all-out war between Marine Headquarters and both the Whitebeard Pirates and Eden's crew! Headquarters is not yet prepared to fight two Emperors of the Sea at the same time."

"You must understand, on the other side of the 'wall' (the Red Line) in the New World, 'Red-Hair', Kaido, and Charlotte Linlin are eyeing Paradise and even the Four Seas like tigers. If the Marines suffer heavy losses, what kind of devastation would be unleashed? Have you thought about that?!"

Sengoku explained the current delicate balance of power between the Marines and the Four Emperors to Sakazuki. As the Fleet Admiral of Marine Headquarters, he would absolutely not allow the Marines to rashly go to war with any Emperor of the Sea without absolute certainty of victory.

"The Marines have truly fallen."

"The combined age of all of us Admirals and Vice Admirals is older than the history of the World Government! Yet our commitment to justice is actually less than that of a twenty-year-old girl. How laughable."

Hearing this, Sakazuki was silent for a moment before letting out a self-deprecating laugh. He ignored Sengoku behind him and walked away.

"Sakazuki, where are you going?" Sengoku asked loudly, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"To the New World."

Sakazuki didn't look back, leaving only that faint sentence behind.

In Sakazuki's eyes, Sengoku had grown old and weak.

If he were the Fleet Admiral, he would have long since moved Marine Headquarters from Paradise to the New World and gathered all their forces to prepare for a decisive battle with the pirates.

This war had to be fought eventually. Rather than dragging it out, it was better to fight the inevitable battle during their generation.

Sakazuki knew that many would die and much blood would be shed, but it was better for their generation to bleed than for future generations to...

As an Admiral of Marine Headquarters, he would never let his soldiers have his back; he would lead from the front, charging first, leaving his back to his soldiers.

"Vice Admiral Erza Scarlet, is it?" Sakazuki muttered softly as he walked.

Yes, the name Erza was now deeply engraved in Sakazuki's mind.

In the New World Marine force that Sakazuki envisioned, what was needed were soldiers exactly like her—uncompromising in their commitment to justice.

At the same time, the prototype of an organization called 'SWORD' was slowly taking shape in Sakazuki's mind.

"Oh my~"

"It seems Sakazuki has stormed off~"

In the office, Borsalino was still leisurely sipping his tea, his lips pursed in an amused expression.

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Admiral Sakazuki, he..."

The other Vice Admirals looked at the departing Sakazuki with a hint of worry in their eyes.

"Don't worry!"

"When it comes to following orders, Sakazuki is better than anyone else here."

Sengoku said "anyone else," but his gaze fell on Garp, who was not far away.

"Ahem..."

Garp coughed forcefully upon hearing this. He had a feeling that old man Sengoku was targeting him.

Meanwhile, at Enies Lobby.

"So what if you've captured me?"

"The Marines and the World Government will never agree to your demands."

Although Lucci's hands and feet were bound by Seastone chains, his words were still sharp as he spoke coldly to Eden and the others in the room.

"Sengoku already agreed."

"In addition to the ship we requested, he even gave us a special pass from the World Government, allowing us to travel unhindered all the way to the New World."

Just as Lucci finished saying that Sengoku would never agree to their proposal, not a second later, Eden received a call confirming that Sengoku had agreed to their demands.

"..."

Lucci fell silent.

This was completely different from the Marines and the World Government he knew.

So the World Government also plays favorites depending on who they're dealing with?!

If the opponent was an Emperor of the Sea, the government would also make compromises on certain matters.

"That's great!"

"This way, we can finally have a normal ship where we can bathe and rest whenever we want."

Nami felt like she was about to cry. Having lived on Little Black's back for so long, she desperately wanted a normal ship.

Honestly, constantly being exposed to UV rays and the sea breeze on Little Black's back, she felt her skin was getting worse.

"My, my~"

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku is quite easy to talk to, isn't he~"

"How strange, Rob Lucci~"

"This is completely different from what you said~"

When it comes to being sly, no one could beat Nico Robin.

Just as Lucci was silenced by the World Government's backtracking, and everyone else was overjoyed that their demands had been met...

The one woman who had no intention of letting Lucci off the hook appeared, as radiant as ever. That woman was Nico Robin.

"..."

Lucci said nothing more. He was already speechless.

"Did we... fail?"

At that moment, a gradually awakening Kaku looked at the tied-up Lucci beside him, then surveyed his surroundings, and knew their plan had fallen apart...

So, Kaku whispered to Lucci, "Lucci, do we have a Plan B?"

"Yes, we definitely do," Lucci nodded after a moment of thought.

"What's the plan?"

Kaku's expression lit up. He knew Lucci wasn't the type to be reckless, impulsive, and unreliable.

"Wait for Vice Admiral Erza to come and rescue us," Lucci replied with a perfectly straight face.

"Huh?"

Kaku was stunned by Lucci's answer.

Alright, he had to admit, ever since Lucci ate the Zoan-type Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Leopard, his temper had become increasingly volatile, impulsive, and devoid of planning.

"I don't think Vice Admiral Erza will come to save us."

"Our mission has already failed!"

"To the government, agents who fail their missions are no different from trash."

"In other words, now that the World Government has chosen to abandon us and the Marines have chosen to compromise, we have no choice but to find a way to save ourselves, right?"

Kalifa, on the other hand, saw everything with stark clarity. Perhaps it was because she came from a family of spies—her father, mother, and sister were all part of the CP system. As a result, she had seen this kind of thing far too many times.

"Is it all over? But I don't want to die!" Spandam wailed, constantly wiping away tears until his face was a mess.

"Useless."

The other CP9 members finally couldn't hold back and cursed him angrily.

If the high-ranking officials of the World Government were all useless "second-generation officials" like Spandam, then the World Government probably wasn't far from collapse.

"BOOM!!"

Just as they were thinking this...

With a tremendous roar!

A massive Marine warship soared through the air, launching from the building destroyed by Natsu's Exploding Flame Blade and pressing down on them.

"Whoa~"

Eden and the others, looking through the large hole Natsu had made, stared at the Marine warship descending from the sky, all showing expressions of shock.

Well, they were shocked that there were still Marines who dared to provoke them, Eden's crew, even after an Admiral and the government's strongest agents outside of CP0, CP9, had already been defeated.

"Eden! Prepare yourself!"

On the deck of the airborne warship, Erza stood alone. She held a katana, her single ponytail of scarlet hair fluttering in the wind. Looking heroic and valiant, she descended like a hero from the heavens and declared war on Eden in the room below.

"As I thought."

"I was just wondering, after I defeated an Admiral and took down Enies Lobby, who in the entire Marine force would still dare to cross me? Of course, it had to be you, Erza."

Eden looked up at Erza in the sky and slowly stretched his arms, ready for battle at any moment.

"Justice will prevail!" Erza shouted, leaping from the deck and slashing directly at Eden.

"Fire Fist!!"

In the nick of time...

Natsu, who had been eager to fight, shot into the air and unleashed his good friend Ace's signature move—Fire Fist—at the descending Erza.

"Leave this Natsu guy to me!"

However, just as Natsu's Fire Fist was about to reach Erza, Gajeel suddenly intervened. He transformed one hand into a chainsaw and roared, "Iron Dragon's Sword!!"

With Gajeel's roar, he sliced right through Natsu's flames.

"Looks like it's my turn to step in."

Gray, resigned, decided to personally intercept Erza.

"Gray, don't move."

However, just as Gray was about to act...

Cana's cards rained down from the sky first, bombarding Gray.

"Ice-Make: Shield!"

Gray's eyes narrowed slightly as he created an ice shield capable of blocking any attack, deflecting Cana's assault.

"Water Nebula!"

Seeing this, Juvia raised her hand, a magic circle appearing as she fired a high-pressure water jet at Erza.

"Solid Script: Freeze!"

Unfortunately, Levy seemed to have been prepared for Juvia. After all, she was someone Erza considered qualified to participate in the Fairy Tail guild's S-Class Mage trials—an S-Class candidate. She still had enough magic power to freeze Juvia's water.

"BOOM!!"

At the same time...

Erza's slash, infused with immense magic power, finally fell!

However, to everyone's surprise, Eden easily blocked it with just one hand.

"Eden... you've gotten stronger again?!"

Erza's pupils constricted at the sight. The feeling Eden gave her now was close to that of Master Precht in his normal state. It was a qualitative difference.

"Of course, I'm a genius, after all~"

Eden mimicked the obnoxious face Laxus would make when showing off, saying this to Erza.

In an instant, everyone had found their opponent: Erza against Eden, Gajeel against Natsu, Cana against Gray, and Levy against Juvia.

"We're clearly outmatched!" Cana shouted, complaining loudly.

"Don't say that, Cana! You're very strong," Gray encouraged her, already forming a holy sword of ice in his hands.

Yes, that was the good thing about Fairy Tail mages: when it came to their own, they always went at each other with their ultimate moves.

"Glug glug~"

On the other side, Levy had already been trapped in Juvia's water prison and was choking on water.

Although Levy was indeed quite strong...

Before joining Fairy Tail, Juvia was one of the Four Elements, the four S-Class mages of Phantom Lord.

In terms of strength, Juvia was the standard for an S-Class mage in the world of Fiore's legal guilds.

As for Fairy Tail's S-Class mages?

They were a bunch of monsters.

To put it this way, even if Jura, who was at the bottom of the Ten Wizard Saints (during the Oración Seis arc), were to take the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial in Fairy Tail, he wouldn't necessarily pass.

For example, if he had bad luck and chose a path that led him to someone like Gildarts.

"There's no other way!"

"It seems I have to use this."

Cana wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and raised her arm high.

Everyone looked at her arm and saw a crimson emblem on it.

"No, wait..."

"This can't be right?!"

Gray and Juvia stared at the emblem on Cana's arm, cold sweat pouring down their foreheads. They said in disbelief, "Fairy Glitter? Isn't that a one-time-use magic?"

"If you use that magic here, this entire building, along with the island beneath our feet, will disappear, right?" Juvia said, flustered but with no good solution.

"Hee hee~"

"I don't know how it happened, but ever since I came to this world, I found that Fairy Glitter hasn't dissipated..."

As Cana said this, she began to chant.

"Gather! O river of light that guides the fairies!"

"Shine! In order to destroy the fangs of evil!"

"Fairy Glitter!"

Yes, Cana had no intention of holding back. With a wine bottle in one hand, she unleashed Fairy Glitter at Gray and the others with the other.

"BOOM!"

The moment Cana's words fell, a sacred halo of light condensed in the sky. The halo descended with infinite power, crashing down hard on the Enies Lobby tower where they all stood.

"BOOM!!!"

In an instant, the entire building was blown to bits by Cana's Fairy Glitter, and even the island beneath their feet was blasted, leaving a bottomless crater.

Beside the ruins.

The CP9 members, who had been saved at the last moment when Levy used Solid Script: Unlock to remove their Seastone cuffs, stared at the bottomless pit before them, cold sweat pouring down their foreheads.

If that attack had hit them, there wouldn't even be bones left of them now.

"Are these people mortal enemies or something?" Lucci asked, bewildered.

"I heard from my father that Erza led teams several times but failed to take down that Eden. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them arch-rivals."

"So, as you can see, they seem to know each other very well, don't they?!"

"Based on my judgment, they must have fought at least a hundred times to have this level of understanding! It seems my father's intelligence isn't always so accurate," Spandam said in shock, staring at the abyss created by the super-magic.

"But after that last attack, these people must be completely dead," Spandam said confidently.

"SWOOSH!"

However, before Spandam could finish...

With a wave of extreme cold, he was instantly frozen into a lifelike ice sculpture, completely sealed in place.

"The fight isn't over yet."

From within the dust, an unscathed Gray and Juvia stood on the other side of the abyss, smiling at everyone present.

"It's Eden's space magic."

"Now we're really done for," Cana said, first stunned, then speaking to herself.

"BOOM!"

Just then, with a loud crash, a battered Gajeel was thrown down from the sky, landing beside them.

"Who's next?!"

Natsu, now empowered by the Flame-Flame Fruit and Laxus's lightning, was no longer someone Gajeel could handle. He cracked his knuckles and smiled at Cana and Levy.

"Cana, can you use Fairy Glitter again?" Levy asked Cana.

"I can't. Even I can't use that magic consecutively," Cana said, shaking her head helplessly.

"Everyone, don't be afraid!"

"Leave the rest to us, CP9!"

"We will absolutely not let them harm you."

Just then, Rob Lucci, Kaku, Jabra, Kalifa, Kumadori, Fukurou, and Blueno, who had been freed by Levy, ignored their own injuries and stood resolutely in front of Levy and the others.

Meanwhile, after Levy used Solid Script: Fire to thaw Spandam, the man scurried to the side.

Just as everyone thought Spandam was about to abandon them and flee, he returned, struggling to carry a huge chest. He opened it in front of everyone, revealing several Devil Fruits neatly arranged inside.

"Good thing the explosion was a little off, otherwise these Devil Fruits I had stored in the basement would have been done for," Spandam said to himself with a sigh of relief.

Then, Spandam's expression turned serious. He said earnestly, "These were all my treasures stored in the basement."

"But there's no time to worry about that now."

"Everyone, please eat a Devil Fruit! And defeat these villains!"

"Justice needs you to protect it."

For the first time, Spandam earnestly requested something of people of lower status than him. It seemed the several near-death experiences had made Spandam grow up quite a bit.

"..."

Meanwhile, Nami, Robin, and Happy, who had been teleported by Eden to Little Black's head to watch the battle from the start, were now silent.

"Robin, can you tell who's on whose side?" Nami finally couldn't help but ask Robin beside her.

"..."

Robin was silent. If she hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes back in Alabasta, she really would have wanted to say to Nami: "Duh, I'm not blind! Obviously, CP9 and these Marines are on one side, and we pirates are on the opposing side."

"BOOM!!"

In the sky, the battle between Eden and Erza continued. The clash of their magic power made the entire broken island of Enies Lobby tremble.

Although Erza's magic power was far inferior to Eden's, she made up for it with Haki. Even Eden hadn't expected Erza's Haki to improve so quickly.

"Erza, how on earth do you train your Haki?" Eden couldn't help but ask.

Nearly half a month had passed, and Eden's Armament and Observation Haki had only just reached the entry-level.

But Erza's Haki was like that of a master who had been immersed in it for decades.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Of course, it's by putting in twenty thousand times more effort than others!" Erza replied truthfully.

Then, Eden saw the katana in Erza's hand suddenly become wreathed in black lightning.

"..."

Seeing this, Eden fell silent.

If the top brass of the Marines were to see this scene of Erza fighting Eden, they would all smile and say, "As expected, Vice Admiral Erza is the future of the Marines."

Even a certain Admiral who wished to remain anonymous, Sakazuki, would say: "You ask me who the future of the Marines is? Who else could it be but Vice Admiral Erza? Surely not that Koby who trains two hundred times harder?"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Don't forget to follow my account on Webnovel : www.webnovel.com/profile/4502962884